How well do you know how to use a Crosswind Chart?

Whether you’re taking your Private Pilot Ground School or your Commercial Pilot Ground School… this is a great reminder ALL of us!

Pilot Tip – Crosswind Chart

[00:00:00] Okay, crosswind charts are important because, remember that the crosswind limit we were talking about whether you use the demonstrated crosswind component or the 20% rule… that is… if the wind is blowing at exactly 90 degrees, the crosswind chart allows you to take the relative wind angle to the runway.

[00:00:27] And turn that into a crosswind. Here’s a example of a, a different sort of looks a little different crosswind chart. This one incorporates the effects of the runway friction index. So the example that I have here is where I have a wind that is, uh, is 40 degrees off the runway at 20 knots. So if you follow the.

[00:00:56] 20, not arch two 40 degrees off the [00:01:00] runway. And then you go straight down, you arrive at a crosswind of about 15 knots. And if you follow that down below the axis at the bottom 13 knots crosswind means that I need about .35 Canadian Runway Friction Index to be able to land. And,  it’s important that you understand that the Runway Friction Index supersedes whatever it says in the aircraft flight manual, because simply put, if you land in too strong of crosswind, and the runway’s too slippery, you’re going off the runway.

[00:01:37] There’s not enough friction there to keep you on the runway. And that’s assuming, you know, how to land in a Crossman, which some of you know is not a given.